Tag Archives: Puerto Plata Resort Review

I loved the place, the beach, and the fancy Mediterranean-style suit we stayed at for five days at Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort & Spa in Dominican Republic. It is a lovely place 1 hour drive from Puerto Plata, Air Port in Dominican Republic.

Overall, my girlfriend and I loved the place, but the service was poor/forced.

Our Assessment:
Nice beach, with a great bar close by the beach, and a so-so service.

Many bartenders were full of attitude, which tends to go away only after you give them good tips. Some were friendly, but many treat you like you are a some sort of a poor relative, or like you owe something to them.

Many people who are supposed to be helpful including front desk personnel were quite complacent and acted like they do not care about your comfort. When we got there, we had no idea where we could go get some food, after a long flight, and a tedious check in process. Turns out there was an open bar with snacks and coffee around the corner, but they did not tell us about it. It was 4:30 local time, and they told us we have to wait till 6:30 for the “Casablanca Restaurant/buffet” to open. We were hungry and thirsty, after an hour long ride on a bus and the whole check in ordeal, but they just did not seem to care about our comfort all that much.

I got a sense of a lazy complacency on their part.

They also got a trick of trying to get you to attend their “welcome session” where they try to sell you their “VIP” time shares. They reinforce this by not allowing you to use the “VIP only” parts of the resort.

You do not really have to attend this “welcome session”, but they are really pushy about it, and use every trick they have to get you to go.

The “welcome session” is pretty much a prelude to a sales presentation leading you up to their hard sell tactics to get you to buy their time shares.

I really did not appreciate that it was deceptively presented as a “welcome session” that you “have-to” attend.

Verdict: Get a bunch of 50 pesos ($1.25) bills to tip the bartenders.

Do not over eat at the buffet, or you will get sick…

Enjoy the place, avoid the “Welcome Session” if you do not want to be forced to buy some time shares and become a “VIP”, do not buy the real Cuban cigars at the beach, because they are definitely counterfeited/fake.